Philly JWJ Blog

We are at a critical and terrifying moment for economic justice organizing. With the election of far-right Donald Trump and an incoming veto-proof Republican majority in the Pennsylvania Senate, we at Philadelphia Jobs with Justice are preparing for an unprecedented assault on our rights in our workplaces and our communities.

At both national and state levels, we can expect regressive legislation targeting women, wage workers, seniors, people of color, immigrants, and many more.

We take this threat extremely seriously. That's why, in the coming year, we’ll be using a five-point plan to work on city, state, and federal levels, fighting back against pro-corporate and unjust legislation.

1. We will actively resist Donald Trump’s discriminatory and anti-worker agenda, at his inauguration on January 20th and beyond.

Philadelphia Jobs with Justice has already been a visible presence at many of the anti-Trump protests that followed the election, and we’re committed to continuing to stand loudly and publicly in opposition to the ways the Trump agenda will hurt working people. We’re already preparing to work with our members to get activists down to Washington, D.C. to take our message of social and economic justice to Trump’s inauguration on January 20th.

2. We will fight back against public acceptance or tolerance of the kind of sexual harassment and assault that Donald Trump has freely admitted to committing.

In 2017, Philadelphia Jobs with Justice will be working with feminist allies like Philadelphia National Organization for Women and Coalition for Labor Union Wwomen to launch a new project: Organizing Now to Prevent Assault and Rape (ON PAR). ON PAR will provide resources for our member and ally organizations to help them develop sexual assault policies for conferences and conventions, and offer the opportunity to publicly pledge to implement this kind of policy.

3. We will stand with our labor and community allies in solidarity in their fights against discriminatory Trump administration policy.

Over the course of his campaign, Donald Trump has time and time again proposed immoral and discriminatory policies concerning everyone from women to Muslims to immigrant communities. We will stand with and support our allies and neighbors as they resist these initiatives, not just with our words, but with our feet on the street.

4. We will hold our elected officials accountable for how they respond to and vote on anti-worker or discriminatory legislations.

Over the years, we’ve consistently stood up to and called out politicians that vote against worker and community interests. In 2017 we’ll double down, using everything from letters to protests to call campaigns to office visits to make sure our elected representatives know that they can’t get away with tossing our interests under the bus to please corporate interests or endear themselves to the Trump administration.

5. We will organize and win victories on a local level to make sure that Philadelphia is doing everything it can to support the working communities and neighborhoods that will be under attack at state and federal levels.

Many of Trump’s proposed initiatives will seek take money away from those who need it most. Now more than ever, we’ll be fighting to make sure that major corporations and mega-nonprofits pay their fair share towards schools and public services in our communities.

As we face unprecedented threats against our communities and our values, Philadelphia Jobs with Justice is as committed as ever to fighting back and standing up for workers and working communities’ rights and dignity.